(CNN) – On Tuesday night, The Den in Tokyo was bestowed the top honor by the World’s Top 50 group, recognizing it as the best restaurant in Asia.
Den is no stranger to awards. It has two Michelin stars and has been in the top 10 in the world for the past few years. But it’s also the place where I ate one of the best meals of my life.
Going out to upscale restaurants can be intimidating, especially for solo travelers. Some of the reputable restaurants I checked out for my trip to Tokyo in November 2019 wouldn’t even accept a single dinner reservation.
However, I put myself on the waiting list at The Den and a week before the trip I received a call confirming that I’d been seated thanks to an odd group at the table next to me. It was like finding out I was going to a cool kids party or getting accepted into my “reach” university.
Left: Chef Zaiyu Hasegawa with his beloved puppy; right, a pillar at Den where customers leave messages of thanks.
Lilith Marcus/CNN
While I was thrilled to get a reservation, I was also nervous — would the experience be stuffy, formal, and full of ingredient names I’d never heard of? Would I leave the restaurant feeling like I’d just crossed something off a list, or would I actually enjoy the food?
Happily, I can say that the answer was the latter.
Den is high-end food with a goofy sense of humor.
In the salad, carrots are cut into thin slices and cut in the form of smileys. Japanese-style fried chicken comes in a mock fast-food takeout box covered in jokes and a goofy photo of the chef. A course arrives with each diner’s national flag – a quick tour of the small dining room that evening revealed tiny American (hi), Chinese, Japanese and Canadian flags which make great souvenirs of the meal.
A portion of Dentucky Fried Chicken at The Den.
Lilith Marcus/CNN
And that’s not all.
Chef Zaiyu Hasegawa is not the type to hide in the kitchen and let the food do the talking. He’s fun and talkative, often with his long-haired Chihuahua Puchi in tow when he visits the dining room.
Tokyo is one of the greatest food cities in the world. During my week-long trip—my first-ever visit to Japan—just about everything I ate was delicious, from convenience store onigiri to late-night ramen to super-expensive sushi made in front of me.
Now I can say that one of the most memorable restaurants I have ever visited has been voted the best restaurant in all of Asia.
But I can also say that my night at the Den was a lot of fun.
Asia’s 50 best restaurants for 2022
1. Cave (Tokyo)
2. Sorn (Bangkok)
3. Florilege (Tokyo)
4. Le Du (Bangkok)
5. The Chairman (Hong Kong)
6. La Cime (Osaka)
7. Suhring (Bangkok)
8. Odette (Singapore)
9. Neighborhood (Hong Kong)
10. Nusara (Bangkok)
11. Sazenka (Tokyo)
12. Fu He Hui (Shanghai)
13. Ode (Tokyo)
14. Villa Aida (Wakayama, Japan)
15. Narisawa (Tokyo)
16. Blends (Seoul)
17. Sezanne (Tokyo)
18. Joo Ok (Seoul)
19th episode (Shenzhen, China)
20. Meta (Singapore)
21. Mask (Mumbai)
22. Indian Accent (New Delhi)
23. Les Amis (Singapore)
24. Caprice (Hong Kong)
25. Blue by Alain Ducasse (Bangkok)
26. 7th Door (Seoul)
27 Mozu (Seoul)
28. Da Vittorio (Shanghai)
29. Sushi Masato (Bangkok)
30. Onjium (Seoul)
31. Samrub Samrub Thai (Bangkok)
32. Mono (Hong Kong)
33. Gaa (Bangkok)
34th Wing (Hong Kong)
35. Ministry of Crabs (Colombo)
36. La Maison de la Nature Goh (Fukuoka, Japan)
37. Zen (Singapore)
38. Logy (Taipei)
39. Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet (Shanghai)
40. Labyrinth (Singapore)
41. Burnt Ends (Singapore)
42. Ete (Tokyo)
43. Cenci (Kyoto)
44. Cloud Street (Singapore)
45. JL Studio (Taichung, Taiwan)
46. Raan Jay Fai (Bangkok)
47. Wing Lei Palace (Macau)
48. 8 1/2 Mezzo Bombano (Hong Kong)
49. Megu (New Delhi)
50. Dewakan (Kuala Lumpur)